


Le Petit Chateau

by Kpuff



Category: One Piece
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Friendship/Love, Heated Moments, Kissing, M/M, Making Out, Older Sanji, POV Vinsmoke Sanji, Past Character Death, Past Relationship(s), Relaxing, Slice of Life, Younger Zoro, small town
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-20
Updated: 2017-10-03
Packaged: 2018-11-03 01:38:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 12,962
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10957011
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kpuff/pseuds/Kpuff
Summary: The floor is a shiny walnut wood clean enough to eat off if you so wanted. The tables have their chairs turned on top waiting to be placed back down for the day’s service, but they will have to wait a couple more hours or so yet. I scan over to the wall to ceiling book case opposite the front counter and admire the books lined up tidy and organized.*Tags say it all*





	1. Chapter one

**Author's Note:**

> *Fixed a few small errors I noticed as I re read it again today* 5/23/17  
> *This is a multi chapter story and I didn't mark it as such my bad!* (Thank you commenter for pointing that out I appreciate it!!)* 5/24/17

Le Petit Chateau

Chapter One

My body wakes itself up like clockwork at 5:30am, the same time as every day. I stretch my body under the covers, legs stretched out and arms pulled high above my head feeling my muscles strain and quiver. I ruffle my golden hair and rub the sleep out of my eyes trying to chase away the drowsiness of waking up. Sitting up I fling the covers off myself and sigh in happiness at the mild temperature in the room, winter is finally gone leaving spring in its stead.

I hop out of bed and make my way to the bathroom; I rinse the foul morning taste from my mouth and get dressed in my black jogging pants and t shirt. I slip on some light blue socks and step into my running shoes then make my way downstairs through the narrow staircase leading from my upstairs living area to the lower floor housing my pride and joy, my Café. 

Emerging downstairs to the main floor I glance around admiring the quiet early morning light streaming in through the large front window shades that were left partially closed. The floor is a shiny walnut wood clean enough to eat off if you so wanted. The tables have their chairs turned on top waiting to be placed back down for the day’s service, but they will have to wait a couple more hours or so yet. I scan over to the wall to ceiling book case opposite the front counter and admire the books lined up tidy and organized. I make my way over to the counter on the other side of the room. The counter is accompanied by a medium sized display counter clean of its muffins and cupcakes that will soon fill its space. I get behind the counter and grab the things I need to take with me on my morning run. Water bottle, phone, earbuds, keys and of course my wallet. 

Finally ready, I exit through the front double doors leaving the closed sign in place and glance up at the sign hanging above the doors in wrought iron that reads Le Petit Chateau. I lock the doors and set off briskly walking to warm up before I start running. It’s a little chillier then I thought it would be but its sure to warm up a little as the day goes on. The cobbled streets of this small town are well kept, the buildings bright and clean permeating a relaxing sleepy atmosphere that’s been present since I was a child and first moved here with my father. 

I check the time and notice I only have about 45 minutes or so before my employees should be showing up, I open my music app and slip the ear buds into my ears and select the playlist I created for my workouts. In seconds, I have Deftones lead singer Chino Moreno’s sexy melodic voice sending me straight to another place entirely, allowing my mind to clear and body to wake up. As I run, buildings and familiar people also getting ready for the day fly past me. Hardly anything seems to have changed in this quiet French town since the last 30 years I’ve been living here. I run through the town and eventually make it to the outskirts where the fields and pastures reside along with the church and cemetery. 

I slow down to a jog as I enter the cemetery gates and weave my way through the paths of the head stones, I pass by my father’s stone offering a small wave and continue until I’m standing in front of his grave. I’m breathing hard from the run so I sit down next to the relatively new grave stone and gulp down the water I brought with me. I lean bodily against the stone and rest my head against it as I cool down. 

I close my eyes and quiet my breathing, sucking air in through my nose and breathing out through my mouth. The stone is smooth and cool against the heated skin of my neck and cheek. I listen to the wind rustle the branches and grass; I hear the birds that have already arrived for spring sharing their songs with one another. I open my eyes and look up at the sky to find it clear with the promise of a bright day once the sun fully emerges. 

I scoot over and lay myself down in front of his grave and just relax next to it, taking in nature and the peace I feel when I visit him. I don’t always come and sit here with him; some days are just harder than others even though it’s been five years already.

I look over to the words on the stone, ‘Ace D. Portgas, beloved friend, brother and companion, January First, 1985 – June Fifteenth, 2012’

I pat the words with my hand, “I can’t believe you would have been thirty this year, my birthday just passed a couple weeks ago…. thirty-three now, I feel so old Ace.” I slowly sit up and face the stone, eyes glued to my crossed legs, “So, Luffy keeps trying to set me up. Everyone he tries to set me up with are all in their early twenties, I feel weird thinking about dating someone so young when I’m so much older than them. I know age doesn’t really matter these days but, it’s just so strange. All I can think about is how adorable you were when you were that young and all the time we spent together, the things we accomplished.” I take another drink of water, “I do have to admit though, the longer time passes the more I feel a deep loneliness setting in, I just never thought I’d have to date again. I planned on growing old with you, seeing our dream café continue to grow and become everything we imagined it would be, you know?”

I look up from my lap and stare at the stone willing it to talk back to me, but I know it won’t. I let the tears stream slowly down my face, knowing its best to just let it out. I tried keeping my grief in during the first year but that just about got me killed. I couldn’t take the pain and I tried to kill myself, luckily my friends stuck close and stopped me in time. Since then I refused to keep my emotions bottled up thinking about how sad Ace would have been if I had succeeded, so I make it a habit to come talk to Ace like this a few times a week. It’s still feels like there’s a crater where my heart lies that Ace used to fill, it’s been 5 years and it still hurts. I worry it’ll never feel whole again sometimes. I let out a heavy sigh and get up, dusting myself off and checking the time again. I’ll have to hurry back to help with prep.

I kiss my fingers and brush the top of the stone, saying good bye to Ace’s grave and jog back home.

It’s about 6:25am once I make it back to the café, I should still have plenty of time to help the other two finish up prep work before we need to open. I walk in happy to find the doors are unlocked telling me at least one of them is on time this morning. I slip inside hearing the light jingle of the tiny doorbell hanging above the doors. I walk upstairs first and quickly shower, I throw on black slacks and a nice comfortable white button down shirt and slip on my black dress shoes. I leave my headphones and wallet on my dresser. I slip my reading glasses on to my shirt to hang on the highest button, then head back downstairs. I head behind the counter and open the kitchen door slipping on my simple clean black apron with the stores name in French script on the upper right. I then loosely tie my hair back at the nape of my neck so it doesn’t get in the way.

The kitchen isn’t overlarge but big enough for at least four cooks to be back here with plenty of elbow room and counter space. I find both Luffy and Usopp already at work. Usopp is prepping sandwich fixings and placing them into containers. Luffy is pouring batter into a cupcake sheet. He looks up and smiles widely at me, “Good morning Sanji!” Usopp also looks up and waves sleepily at me.

Luffy wiggles excitedly and a bark a laugh at him. I walk over to him and place a hand on his head, “Good morning Lu!” His smile gets even wider and he goes back to pouring the batter out evenly. I walk over to Usopp and pat him on the back, “Hey Usopp, glad to see your on time today!” I laugh at him as he yawns widely in response. 

I inspect the two ovens along with the pots cooking on top, checking to make sure the food is on track for the morning and rest of the day. I’m pleased to find the muffins and cupcakes are either ready or almost there, some racks of them cooling off already. The soup for the day is creamy tomato bisque since it’s still a little chilly out. We also serve ready to make sandwiches and simple dishes like pasta, sausages and eggs that type of thing. Everything is from the local farmers and organic.

I make my way back to the front with a tray of different muffins and start setting up the display case. Once finished, I begin prepping the coffee and get all the coffee syrups and toppings ready and set out. I then head out to the quaint dining area and take the chairs off the tables setting them on the floor, I give them a wipe down as well just to be sure everything is tidy. I make my way over to the large bookshelf and check that all the books are lined up nicely and see if I need to place an order for any extras.

Once I’m satisfied that the dining area is clean and ready I look to the large clock on the wall above the double doors and see it’s already 6:50am. I walk over to the doors and flip the closed sign to open figuring its fine if we open a little early today, I glance up and look through the window and am a little shocked to see a man outside the doors already waiting. 

The man is unfamiliar to me which is a little surprising considering this is a small town; I know almost everyone or have at least seen them before. I quickly open the door and motion him in, “Welcome Sir and good morning, please come in!” I smile kindly at him and he stares at me for a bit before offering a small smile in return. I take note of his appearance as he walks in looking around the café. He’s wearing some sort of security guards uniform much like Luffy’s other brother, the man also has a scar over his left eye and it appears he’s unable to open it. His skin has a natural tanned hue to it as well that leaves me wondering where he’s from. He’s wearing a hat that matches his uniform and just as I wonder what his hair looks like the man takes his hat off and turns around to face me. I’m a little shocked to see soft looking bright green hair, ‘Is that natural?!’

The man clears his throat and my eyes snap down to his he stands just slightly taller than myself but only by a few inches, “Nice to meet you, my names Zoro.” He holds out his hand and I automatically take it and then lean in kissing the air on either side of his face. When I pull back Zoro’s face is red and I can’t help but giggle at how cute he looks. 

I let go of his hand, “My name is Sanji, and this is my café. Sorry if I startled you, I prefer to greet everyone like that even if they are new.” Zoro seems to relax a bit his face going back to a normal shade. “Please come take a look at the menu, you look hungry and a little tired. Can I get you a coffee?” I walk behind the counter and hand him one of the single sheet menus we have containing the items we constantly carry. I point behind me at the chalk board, “Here are our specials for today as well, take your time.” 

Zoro nods, “I’ll take a black coffee for now, thank you.” I nod at him and start getting his coffee ready.

Once I finish pouring it and bring it to him he sets the menu down, “I’ll take the meat breakfast platter, it sounds good.” 

I smile at him, “Great choice, that’s pretty popular. I’m sure you’ll love it,” I point behind him, “Go ahead and take a seat where ever, I’ll bring it out in just a few minutes.” Zoro smiles back at me and takes his coffee, calmly walking over to a table near the front windows where the sun is now shining in warmly. I think to myself, ‘He has a really nice smile.’

I make my way through kitchen door and ask Luffy to grab me the meat platter ingredients. I head over to one of the stove’s and get what I need to start cooking the food. “Usopp could you watch the counter for me while I cook this for our guest please?”

Usopp heads out after giving a salute and Luffy brings me the food, “So who’s our first customer today? Is it Miss Mary?” 

I start to cook the sausage and bacon, “No it’s actually someone new, his name is Zoro. Oddly enough he has green hair.” Luffy’s eye go a bit wide, “Oh, actually he’s wearing a similar outfit to Sabo’s, I wonder if they work at the same place.” 

Luffy laughs nervously and heads back to finish washing dishes. I quirk an eye brow at him but decide I’ll ask him about his suspicious behavior later.

Once I finish cooking the eggs along with the rest I plate it up and grab the silverware. I walk out to the front and find a couple new regulars have shown up, Usopp is busy preparing coffees behind the counter. I smile and offer a good morning to the regulars as I pass by.

I get over to Zoro’s table and he looks up at me as I set down the plate. I give him his silverware and napkin as well, my face splits into a grin as I watch him take a deep inhale of the platter of food, almost drooling at how delicious it looks. “So if you don’t mind me asking are you new to this town? I have seen pretty much everyone who lives here but I’ve not seen you before.”

Zoro leans back in his chair a bit setting his napkin over his lap, “I’ve actually been here for a few months now but I was working the graveyard shift over at the indoor shopping mall down the road. Someone I work with recommended this place to me so I figured I’d check it out today since I just got off.”

“Oh I see, no wonder you looked tired. Well I’m glad you decided to come in. I actually know someone who works there, do you know Sabo?” I cock my head in question at him.

Zoro seems to perk up a bit, “Yea actually, that’s who recommended this place; He said his little brother works here.”

I smile warmly at him, “Ah, that would be Luffy. Well I hope you enjoy it, I’m glad we met. I’ll let you get to eating.” I pat his shoulder and notice his face blushes a little when I do, ‘How adorable.’ He has a very muscular build if his thick hard shoulder anything to go by. I feel my own face blush at the thought and give him another quick smile before scurrying off to the kitchen to try to calm down.

I burst into the kitchen and immediately lock eyes with Luffy. He looks a little guilty, I immediately grow suspicious. “Luffy, did you tell Sabo to have Zoro come to the store to meet me?” Luffy immediately blushes and looks down. I close my eyes and try not to get too angry. 

Luffy walks over to me and looks up at me with puppy dog eyes, “Sanji please don’t be mad ok? I just don’t want you to be sad and lonely anymore. I know you are sometimes, it’s not fair to you to be alone like this, Ace would want you to be happy Sanji.” Luffy wraps his arms around my torso and I automatically wrap my arms around his shoulders. I bury my face in Luffy’s hair and heave a sigh. Luffy murmurs into my shoulder, “Did you like him at all?”

I feel my face warm again, “Ye, yeah. He is pretty attractive, even though his hair is green.” I sigh a bit in defeat, “He seems nice.” I whisper into Luffy’s black hair. “But he’s way too young for me Lu, I’m thirty-three now, he can’t be far over twenty. Let’s not forget he may not even be interested in me or gay. I’ll never forget the one guy Sabo had me meet, that guy was as straight as they come.” I shudder internally as I recall how awkward that was.

Luffy glances up at me, “Age really doesn’t matter to anyone anymore Sanji. Also, your only thirty-three, that’s nowhere near old!” Luffy pulls back a bit, “I’m pretty sure he is gay. I yelled at Sabo about that last guy and told him to be sure this time!”

I pull back too and pat Luffy’s cheek. “Thank you for caring about me Lu, I do appreciate it. I’m not sure about this though, I’ll have to think about it.” Luffy just nods. “Anyways, Zoro is probably better off with someone with less baggage.” I give a weak smile to Luffy and head out the back. Luffy looks like he wants to say more but he thankfully just goes back to what he was doing. 

I head out to the back alley through the door at the back of the kitchen and lean against the wall. The alley is narrow and a bit dark, the building next door shades the alley from the sun throughout the entire day. I grope my apron pocket and find an old creased up cigarette pack. I smack it until one of the last few cigarettes comes out landing in my open palm. Ever since Ace died I had quit smoking cold turkey, he had always wanted me to stop since it’s such an unhealthy habit. This pack is the last one I ever bought and have managed to only smoke once since then, it was back during that first year when everything was simply too much. When I’m really upset, or stressed out I just hold a cigarette between my lips for a few minutes until I feel calmer. 

I put it between my lips and let my head rest against the rough bricks of my building. I close my eyes and Zoro immediately comes to mind. I have gone five years without being intimate with another person, but feeling his strong shoulder, seeing his rugged face and hearing his deep smooth voice is making me think about things I normally have no problem ignoring. I put the cigarette back in the pack, adjust my slacks and head back inside going straight out into the dining room to take over the front counter. 

Usopp is currently walking around picking up dirty cups and plates, I nod at him and he finishes up heading back into the kitchen. I’m surprised to find Zoro still sitting at his table, once he sees me however he gets up and walks over to me. I feel my heart flutter in my chest as he looks me straight in the eye. 

“Hey, so I just wanted to tell you before I left that the food was really delicious.” I feel my face blush at the compliment. “Also, my hours at work are changing starting tomorrow, so I’ll be back for lunch from today on. I’ll see you tomorrow Sanji.” He pushes the stores copy of his receipt along with his payment towards me and nods at me, offering a shy smile before promptly leaving, giving me no time to form a response. I watch him walk out admiring how his shirt stretches over his muscular arms and back.

I hear a snicker behind me and whip my head around to see Usopp and Luffy spying on me through the kitchen door window. I squawk, “Get back to work!” They both laugh out loud and run off. My face flushes and I find it hard to wipe the smile off my face. 

I grab up the receipt and payment, placing both in the till. Just as I go to close it up I notice something scribbled on to the paper. I squint at it and pull it back out, I place my reading glasses on and find scrawled on the back Zoro’s name and a phone number. Zoro’s phone number. I stare wide eyed at it, just below his phone number is a short message, ‘Call or text me whenever you want to, I’ll be looking forward to it.’ My face flushes all the way down to my neck and I hold the receipt close to my chest as my heart thumps loudly against my ribs. 

Trying not to think too hard about what I’m letting myself do, I grab my phone out of my pocket and enter Zoro’s number into my modest contact list. I quickly save it and shove my phone back in my pocket before I rethink anything and wind up deleting it. I place the receipt back into the till and take a deep breath. I look up just as the next customer enters causing the bell to let out its sweet chime and I’m grateful for the distraction. I put Zoro out of my mind for now and focus on getting through the rest of the day.

TBC


	2. Chapter Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sanji and Zoro get to know each other a bit more, finding out some personal things that bridge them together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was delayed a lot longer then I intended, however I did have my friend beta this chapter and I touched it up a lot so I'm a lot happier with it now. Please do enjoy it, I'd love to heard what you all think about it. Ill try to get the next one out a bit faster!

Le Petit Chateau

Chapter Two

The sun sets behind the buildings across the street as I turn the blinds down at the end of the day. My good friends and evening employee’s Nami and Robin leave for the night, I wave good bye to them in the door way. The lock on the door turns, clicking with finality. I flip the chairs up onto the tables and give the dining area another sweep to be sure everything is clean for tomorrows service. Today got a lot busier than anticipated but I was grateful for it, it helped distract me from a certain man whose number is burning a hole in my pocket. Finally satisfied with the dining room I slip off my apron and hang it on the hook behind the counter.

Making my way into the kitchen I take out one of my favorite bottles of wine along with a single wine glass. I uncork the fresh bottle and grab a plate full of crackers and cheese for a late-night snack as well. Everything gets hauled upstairs with me, wine bottle shoved under my arm pit, plate wobbling precariously in my right hand with the glass perched in the middle. Managing to not drop anything I squeeze through the narrow stair case and into the living room. I shuffle through to my bed room and place the items on top of my long dresser.

I throw my phone onto my bed then set my glasses on my dresser. Stripping down to my boxers is a relief, I always love being able to get out of the clothes I’ve been in in all day and finally wear loose relaxing clothes. I pull on a loose T shirt and then gently pull the hair tie out of my hair, wincing a bit as a few hairs get snagged on it. I finger sling shot the hair tie onto my night stand, feeling a bit of childish glee as it hits the wall and bounces back landing perfectly on top.

Padding across the wooden floor on bare feet I head back to my dresser and place my wine, glass and plate of snacks onto a dark walnut serving tray. I turn around and place the tray near the end of my bed and then grab the TV remote off my night stand, tossing it next to my phone. I lay on my queen-sized bed on my stomach sighing as I squirm around trying to get comfortable for a minute. Not finding an acceptable position I finally snag one of my many bed pillows and stuff it under my chest to keep myself propped up. Turning the TV on I’m delighted to see one of my favorite cooking shows, Cut Throat Kitchen is on. Eyes glued to the intense cooking game I pour myself a glass of the sweet red wine and enjoy my snacks doing my best to ignore my phone. 

After about half way through the bottle and my snacks I start to get a little bold and antsy. I reach for my phone and unlock it momentarily admiring my background image of my birthday party earlier this year. Luffy and Sabo are hanging off me on either side laughing and drunk, all three of us wearing ridiculous party hats. Navigating my apps I press on the text app and open a new conversation with Zoro. 

“What the hell do I even say?” I flip over on to my back and squint at the screen. “I guess just a simple greeting is good enough for now.” 

I type in, ‘Hey, this is Sanji. Just wanted to text you and say hi.’ As soon as I hit send I immediately panic that that sounded really fucking dumb. I roll back over and quickly gulp down another glass of wine, now only having about one glass full left in the bottle. 

Only a few moments pass and my phone chimes letting me know I got a text back. Quickly looking back down his response is simple and fills me with a bit of comfort, ‘Hey Sanji! I’m glad you texted me.’ 

The little dots show up indicating that he’s currently typing, ‘I can’t stop thinking about how amazing your food was. How was the rest of your day?’ 

I break into a grin at the compliment, ‘Well I’m glad you liked the food so much, I can’t wait to make more for you.’ I send that first and then follow up with the rest of my day, ‘I had a lot of customers come in after you left, the café was crowded all day, it was a good thing though, made the day go a lot faster that way. How was the rest of your day?’ I send that as well and eagerly await his response.

His response comes through fairly fast, ‘I’m glad you have such good business for this being such a small town! I had a good day too, I got a lot of chores done and now I’m just sitting on my couch drinking some Sake.’ 

“He drinks Sake huh?” I respond back, ‘Sake, I haven’t tried much of that before. I’ve just about finished a bottle of my favorite red wine, I had some cheese and crackers with it lol. Can I ask where you’re from?’

I nibble on my lip nervously, hoping I’m not asking too personal of a question too fast. His response chimes in, ‘I’ll have to have you try some good Sake sometime, it’s very nice. Sounds like we both like to spend our nights having a nice bottle of alcohol lmao! I was born and raised in Japan, but I had been living in Germany for the last six years or so. Have you always lived here?’

“Wow, Japan, never would have imagined that, but that explains the Sake,” I reply, ‘Japan! That’s really cool and I love Germany! I’m also very curious about trying a good Sake. I have always lived in France, I moved to this particular town when I was very little, my father moved us here and it was just him and I.’  
I pause, wondering how much I should tell Zoro, it’s so fun talking to someone new, but I barely know him. 

A few minutes pass and I don’t see anything yet so I decide to head down to the kitchen and clean up my glass and plate. Once I get back I see he has finally texted back, I unlock it and read his message, ‘That’s nice, this is such a calm town I really love it a lot already. I do miss Japan and Germany sometimes but all my family is either dead or so distant we don’t keep in contact. My father and sister both died a long time ago, I never really knew my mother.’ 

My eyes widen a bit in shock to see how forthcoming he is about his past but it’s also really refreshing. I feel a bit bad that his family died and he’s got to only be in his early twenties. But I suppose my situation isn’t really all that different. I decide to tell him about Ace too, because I’d rather he find out from me then someone else anyways. 

‘Wow I’m sorry to hear about your father and sister. I do understand that though, my father died just a few years back and before him about five years ago my partner died. His name was Ace.’ I find myself unable to think of what else to say, not really wanting to get into too much detail about the how’s. I hit send and flip the TV off then switch on my bedside lamp and turn off the main light in the bedroom. I snuggle under my thick soft covers and get comfortable on my stomach again using my pillow to prop myself up again so I can get a better angle on my phone as I lay down. 

Zoro responds after a moment, ‘Sanji, I’m so sorry to hear about that. I can’t imagine losing that kind of special person. Sabo has spoken a little about his deceased brother Ace but I had no idea you were lovers. I haven’t found a person that special yet just a few people over the years that didn’t last long, so I think it’s lucky that you got to experience a love like that. I had a boyfriend who I was pretty serious about a couple years ago, but he was way too immature for me. His name was Coby, I left him back in Germany. He liked to party too much and it annoyed me lol. Uhm, I hope it’s not weird to ask but, are you ok?’

My heart warms at his concern. ‘Thank you for that Zoro, you’re really a sweet heart. Ya, I’m ok with it now, it’s never not sad but I stopped breaking down about it a couple years ago lol. Sorry to hear about Coby, I don’t think a lot of the younger folks around here like yourself are much into partying hard like they do in the larger cities so I think you’ll be safe, ha!’ 

I roll over onto my side and pull the covers up over my shoulder, Zoro’s response takes a bit to come through, ‘Young folks huh? You can’t be that much older than me Sanji, at least you certainly don’t look like it. *wink face* Well I better head off to get a little bit more sleep before work. I’ll see you around lunch time tomorrow. Good night Sanji, sweet dreams.’

A chuckle rumbles deep in my chest, “You sure are cute aren’t you.” 

I send a quick reply, ‘I look forward to it, night Zoro, don’t let the bed bugs bite lol.’ 

*

The next morning brings a gentle rain and grey clouds. I roll out of bed and get ready for my run slipping on my plastic poncho to keep most of the rain off and head out. By the looks of it, it hasn’t been raining for too long. My run goes by a little faster than yesterday as I don’t stop by to see Ace this morning. Once I get to the front doors and find them locked, I unlock them and get cleaned up and dressed once I’m back upstairs. Luffy and Nami are scheduled to work this morning and should be here shortly so I head down to the kitchen and make myself a quick sandwich accompanied by a mug of café au lait. I sit myself down in the kitchen on a stool at a small desk and eagerly eat up. 

Once I’m about half way through my food I pull out my phone to find a couple of new texts. One is from Luffy and the other is from Zoro. I open Luffy’s first to see if he is going to be late or something. His text reads, ‘Hey Sanji! I’m going to be a little late this morning, I’m really sorry! It shouldn’t be too bad though but just so you know!’ I roll my eyes, nothing new there. Luffy is probably late a few times a week, but it’s not that big of a deal. He was probably out late with his group of friends. If anything, Nami will give me all the details when she gets in. 

I reply, ‘Ok see you soon then, be safe.’ 

I back out of Luffy’s text and click on Zoro’s, He texted, ‘Good morning Sanji, I hope you had a restful sleep. I had a lot of fun talking to you last night, so I hope you don’t mind if I text you too.’ 

He sent a picture after that, I click on it to load it and find myself staring at Zoro’s face, he looks like he woke up very recently in the picture, his hair is tousled and he looks a little sleepy. He has a piece of toast with some kind of yellow jam smeared on it, it’s hanging out of the corner of his mouth, his head is cocked to the side a little and he’s giving a strangely sexy sleepy smirk. He’s also not wearing a shirt and I find it extremely hard not to gape at his muscular, bare tanned neck and shoulders. 

Deciding to send a picture back too, I straighten up my hair and clothes. I hold up my white coffee mug and snap a picture of myself sipping from it, camera angled down from above so you can see inside it and I’m looking up into the camera lens. 

I send the picture along with a text, ‘Of course you can text me, I may not respond immediately if it’s during a rush here, but I’ll reply as soon as I can. I hope you had a little more than just toast this morning Sir.’ Before I can stop myself, I’m staring at his picture again and decide to save it. You know, in case I need it later…. for stuff. 

I make it his profile picture in my phone just in case someone steals my phone and starts asking questions about random pictures of men in my saved photos. I finish my sandwich and coffee up then move over to the sink to clean up. A few minutes later I hear the door chime go off. I open the kitchen door and greet Nami. 

She’s got lovely long red hair and fair complexion. Today she has her hair in a large braid traveling down her back, she smiles sweetly at me and gives me a half hug, I quickly return it and wait let her walk back into the kitchen first.

She makes her way to the fridge and starts getting out the ingredients for the days baked goods after glancing at the chalk board listing the days of the week and our specials. I help her out by getting the other items down and ready that we will need, I put together the stew for today while I’m at it and let it start simmering. Once Nami has all her ingredients out she divulges into the previous night’s activities, “So Sanji, guess what happened last night!” She glances at me excitedly. 

I chuckle at her, “Uhm, you guys all went out together and ‘you know who’ showed up?” This has been a regular occurrence, apparently a new doctor has moved into town and he’s a real looker. Luffy is apparently smitten with him. 

Nami squeals in delight, “Yes! He showed up again! I swear to you Sanji, I will hook those two up even if it kills me!” I laugh at her and we both hear the doorbell jingle. We both try our best to wipe the smirks off our faces as Luffy bursts through the door scrambling to get his apron on. 

He smiles at us both, “Hey guys! Sorry I’m late again Sanji, I’ll try not to be late again the rest of the week!” He quickly gets together more ingredients for some other muffins and stands next to Nami to start preparing. 

His hair is soft and clean as I pat him on the head, “It’s ok Luffy. So, I heard you saw that doctor last night? What’s his name again?” Hearing Luffy gush about his crush makes me feel so happy for him, so I always pretend like I’ve forgotten everything about it even though I haven’t. 

Luffy’s eyes light up like its Christmas as he goes into great detail about the dark and mysterious Doctor Trafalgar Law. He apparently has tanned skin, black tousled hair and dark eyes that make him appear to be constantly tired. He also has tattoos that cover his hands and fingers. Luffy got Law to show him a bit of the tattoos on his chest last night. He sounds like a very handsome and exotic person. 

Looking over to Luffy after he finishes gushing about Law I tell him, “You should see if he can make it in sometime. I’d like to meet him!” 

Luffy bounces in place, “I will! I managed to get his number last night too so I’ll text him later!”

Nami chimes in, “Luffy, remember what I told you about texting him ok, don’t blow his phone up or he’ll get pissed.” 

She gives him a stern look and Luffy nods confidently, “Don’t worry Nami! I remember what you said, I only texted him ‘Good morning’ today and that was all so far!” 

Smirking at the two of them I turn around and check the pot of stew I’ve been working on. Today it’s a creamy potato soup served with a slice of crunchy bread and a side of salad. It’s looking good so far so I pop the lid back on and keep it simmering. Glancing at my phone for the time I see its already almost 8:00am. I head out to the front to get the main area opened and ready, placing the chairs down, turning the blinds open and flipping the sign over. I quickly make sure the coffee is ready and wait for our first customers to arrive. Since it’s a rainy day it will be a little less busy but shouldn’t be too bad. The crowd today should be fairly chill and relaxed.

Today is a good day for some background music in the store so I to turn on the small radio to a classical French music channel. Normally I don’t have the music on in the cafe, instead preferring to let the sounds of the kitchen trickle out and the murmurs of customers fill the air. But since today is a rainy day with a bit of thunder, a little relaxing French music won’t hurt anyone and it’ll go well with the weather. 

The morning passes by with little incident, a fair amount of people show up, appreciating the soup choice today and taking their time reading and chatting. Before long I feel my pocket vibrate, I check to make sure no one needs anything and sneak into the kitchen to check my phone. Luffy is washing dishes and Nami is working on a cupcake order for later in the day. 

I unlock my phone and am happy to see its from Zoro, ‘You look considerably more attractive than most people so early in the morning Sanji, how on earth do you manage that? Do you just wake up looking that hot?’ Laughter sputters out between my lips as I try to contain it, I haven’t been called hot in a long time! 

I notice it’s also 11:00am at this point, so Zoro should be getting off soon. I text back, ‘How good of you to notice, yes I delicately step out of bed looking this fabulous, it’s about time someone mentioned it! Lmao! But seriously thanks for the compliment, I’ll be honest, you looked very adorable in your picture from this morning, sleepy but still cute, lol.’ I hit send. 

The soup of today crosses my mind so I walk over to the pot and pop the lid open, I snap a picture of it and send it to Zoro as well, ‘I hope you’re hungry, this is the soup of the day, creamy potato stew!’ I put the lid back on and wait for a response. 

Zoro sends another picture of himself, this time it’s a picture of just his uniform adorned stomach and his hand gripping it in mock hunger, ‘I am unbelievably hungry! Your so cruel sending that to me when I still have another hour left of work. T-T but I cannot wait to eat that now because it seriously looks insanely delicious. My cooking skills are basically nonexistent. But I’ll let you get back to work, I’ll see you in about an hour Sanji! Keep a bowl full for me!’ 

Zoro sends a final picture of himself, he has his right hand in a fist, knuckles tucked under his chin in a cute pose, eyes looking up above the camera, I imagine if he wasn’t taking a picture he would be fluttering his eye lashes, ‘I think you’re the first person to call me adorable by the way, thanks for that, lol.’ The closer I look at it I can see a slight blush high on his beautiful cheek bones. 

I burst out laughing at the photo so hard that my eyes star to tear up. It’s so strange to see such a rugged guy striking a pose like that. After a couple moments, I gain control of myself and wipe my eyes, I glance up to find both Nami and Luffy staring openly at me. I stare wide eyed back. Almost at the same time they look at each other and then back at me and smirking evilly. They both get back to work with large grins on their faces and all I can do is clear my throat and head back out front, trying to tamper down the embarrassment flushing my cheeks. 

TBC

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Zoro will come in next chapter so don't worry! We will see him in person and Sanji will get to ogle him up close instead of through pictures lol! To all of you who have taken the time to read this thank you very much! To those who read and kudo's and maybe even commented I super appreciate you too!! I'd again love to heard what you think. See ya hopefully soon!


	3. Chapter Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sanji and Zoro have lunch together and plans are made?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, long time no see huh? Sorry about that guys, I've been thoroughly distracted by some really fun things. But don't worry, I'm not going anywhere darlings. Updates may continue to be slow but ill try to get them out faster then this one was. Thanks for sticking around and continuing on this fully journey with me. 
> 
> Not beta'd and their conversation at the end may have gotten a little proper English British on me lol.

Le Petit Chateau

Chapter 3

It’s afternoon when Zoro finally shows up, the large lunch crowd having already eating and gone. He slips inside taking his hat off and smiling widely at me, “Hey Sanji, sorry I’m a little late. Some last-minute stuff at work came up and I had to finish it before I could leave.” 

I smile warmly at him, “Don’t worry about it, I’m just glad you still showed up. I made sure to save a bowl of the soup just for you.” 

Zoro lets out a grateful groan, “Oh thank goodness, I’ve been looking forward to that since you sent me the picture.” 

Gesturing to the unoccupied dining area I say, “Go ahead and have a seat I’ll bring out your lunch now, what did you want to drink?”

He ruffles his hair a bit before replying, “I’ll have coffee please!” 

Nodding in understanding I turn away, heading into the kitchen to fix his plate up. Once I’ve got everything ready I head back out swiftly pouring a cup of coffee for him as well and bring everything over to his table. He went ahead with the same table from the day before, right by the front windows. 

Once he’s settled in I turn to leave him to eat in peace for a bit when I feel my wrist gently grasped and tugged. I stop and glance behind me, Zoro’s face is slightly red and he’s not quite meeting my gaze. He lets go and mumbles, “Did you want to eat lunch with me, if you haven’t already eaten?”

My heart flutters at how sweet he is, I smile sweetly at him, “Sure, I’ll eat with you Zoro, thank you for offering. I’ll be right back!” Zoro looks instantly elated, so I quickly go into the kitchen and get myself a bowl of soup and some salad. 

I grab a glass of water and sit myself down across from Zoro at the square table. Zoro has set his hat on the table and placed his napkin in his lap. Following suit, I settle in, placing my napkin on my lap as well. I relax into the chair, grateful to be off my feet for a little while. 

Finding myself suddenly very hungry I tuck in, spooning up soup and savoring it, noting that the taste is almost perfect and deciding next time I’ll add a bit more sage. Hearing a lack of clinking silverware from across the table I glance up to find Zoro staring at me, as soon as I look up to meet his gaze he directs his gaze back down to his plate while his cheeks dust with red and he quickly picks up his spoon starting in on his own dish. 

My mind whirls with the obvious, this man likes me. It’s a statement I’ve been trying to decide how I feel about. I know I am physically attracted to him, I cannot lie and say I’m not. But, I can’t decide if I should shut him down or let it go and see what happens. Some might say it’s better to stop whatever this is while we are ahead but, he’s just so sweet that it’s hard to think about pushing him away. 

Zoro’s voice pulls me from my thoughts and I ask him to repeat himself, “Sorry what was that?”

Zoro cocks his head to the side, “I asked you if you were alright, you looked a little troubled over there.” Zoro passes me a bit of his bread and I take it, sopping up the left over soup in my bowl. 

Once I finish eating it I look back up to him, “Ya, I’m ok, just got a few things on my mind.” He nods his head in understanding. Deciding to focus on my new friend instead of worrying about deeper issues I try for casual conversation, “Well, now that your off work for today what are your plans for the rest of your day?” 

I work on finishing my salad as I listen to the deep timber of his voice, my mind suddenly reminds me of Ace’s voice. The two of them couldn’t be more different, Ace’s voice was a slightly higher pitch generating more from the top of his chest but still inviting and nice to listen to. Zoro’s voice on the other hand comes from a deeper part of his chest, causing his voice to have a warm, deep resonances that rattles something within my body, making me feel relaxed and comforted somehow. 

Zoro leans back in his seat a bit, “Well I’ll go home and get changed. Then I have some errands around town to run, I’ll probably go for a run tonight as well since it’s been getting a bit warmer. I was also considering going to a jazz club in the next town. I heard it’s got a really relaxing atmosphere there, they have this incredible musician there, I think I heard his name was Brook, if I’m not mistaken he owns the place.” 

Perking up at the name, “Brook huh, was this Le Violoncelle des os?” 

Zoro pats the table with his hand looking excited, “Yes that’s the name of it! Have you been there before Sanji?” 

Leaning in closer out of excitement I say, “Yes, I know the owner, he’s a good friend of mine actually. It’s been awhile since I’ve gone to see him, his place is really great!” 

Without really thinking about it I tell Zoro all about my favorite memory at that club, “Le Violoncelle des os was the place I first met Ace at. I had been going there for some time and made good friends with Brook and Robin, she comes to work here some nights of the week. One night a group of people came in consisting of Luffy, Sabo, Ace, Robin and Nami, she’s my other night worker who sometimes works in the day. I’ll never forget the moment I looked over to the door when they came in and how it felt like time stopped when Ace and I made eye contact. My face immediately turned red and I forgot how to breath entirely! We were both so young then!” I laugh out loud, picturing Ace’s equally entranced face as he blocked the door way to the club, his friends pushing him and hollering at him to move out of the way.

Wiping my eyes, I lean my cheek on my hand and look back up to Zoro, he has the biggest, sweetest smile on his face as he looks over at me matching my relaxed pose. 

Zoro huffs a laugh, “That’s a really sweet memory Sanji.” 

Zoro gets a nervous look in his eye before asking, “If you wanted to, did you want to come with me tonight. You said you haven’t seen Brook in a while, that might be nice to catch up and you could show me around the place?”

I sit up at that, giving this serious thought. “Are you asking me out on a date Zoro?” Looking at him I’m sure to hold eye contact, still unsure what answer I want to hear.

Zoro sits up as well clearing his throat. After a beat he speaks, “I want to be clear with you Sanji. I really like you, so if you’re comfortable with it I would be happy if you thought of this as a first date.” 

My eyes widen, ‘Well there it is, he really does like me. Should I take the chance and see where this goes, or do I tell him I only want to be friends?’ I close my eyes in contemplation and hum to myself a bit. A couple of moments pass and all I can think about are negative things. How much older I am then he is, how we don’t know much about each other yet and how it’s been so long I’m not really sure how comfortable I would be falling into someone else’s arms or letting them fall into mine. 

My musings are interrupted by Luffy bursting out of the kitchen running over to bounce happily on his feet in front of me, “Sanji! Sorry to interrupt you but I just got a text from Law! He says he wants to check out Le Violoncelle des os! You should go with so you can see Brook, he misses you!”

I look back over to Zoro and find he looks a little down, ‘Shit I must have been taking longer to reply then I should have.’ I poke Luffy in the belly, “I’ll get back to you in a sec about that Lu ok, just give me and Zoro a few more minutes.” Luffy nods excitedly and darts back into the kitchen again.

Zoro reaches across the table very slowly and deliberately until his index finger reaches my right hand that’s resting next to my plate. I watch as he gently strokes the top of my hand with his finger, I flick my gaze to his face and see he is once again very red, “Sanji, I want you to know you can tell me what’s on your mind. I’m a really good listener and I won’t be offended if you don’t want to go or if you don’t feel the same, I totally understand.”

A sigh escapes through my nose as I close my eyes for a moment, “You do the cutest things Zoro.” 

Zoro jolts a bit in his seat finger frozen and no longer stroking my hand. He stares at me in wonder and disbelief. 

I relax back into my chair and use my own index finger to poke at his, rubbing our finger pads together slowly and keeping my eyes glued to our hands, “Alright, you have been nothing but honest and open with me so it’s only fair if I do the same for you. I am very attracted to you physically and so far, to your personality as well, though we don’t know a lot about each other yet.” 

I take a sip of my water before continuing, giving myself a little more time to formulate everything I want to say, “It’s been about five years now since I had a lover and it’s been well over twelve years since I dated someone new, so I’m a little unsure of myself. That combined with the fact that you must be ten years or so younger then myself, I worry that you won’t like what you find once you get to know me better. Our interests may be too different, and my body isn’t as young as your own, though I will admit I’m not really that old yet.”

I finally look back up to Zoro and meet his gaze, “So these are the things that keep spinning around my mind and I’m just not sure if I should go with the flow, or if I should tell you no, in the hopes you’ll find someone younger and better, someone with less baggage then me.” I gesture to the store around me, my café means the world to me and takes a lot of my time to run it and keep it going.

Zoro seems to turn my words over and thinks them through before replying, “Thank you for being open and honest with me Sanji. It makes me happy to hear that you do like me too and I can understand where you’re coming from with our age’s and the business you run here.” 

Zoro carefully inches his fingers into the palm of my and slowly closes his large hand over mine. I feel my pulse bounce as a sense of excitement thrums through me briefly, allowing my hand to close over his and give a very gentle squeeze, I feel my cheeks burn a little when he returns the gesture. 

Zoro takes a sip of his coffee then says, “I’d like very much to have the chance to get to know you better. Since we like each other and both find the other attractive, as well as share some similar experiences I think we have good heading into trying to date each other, we can get to know each other too. We can go as slow as you like, I’m not in any sort of rush in that sense, so if being intimate with another person so suddenly seems uncomfortable, you don’t have to worry about that a bit. I know how to keep my hands to myself.” 

Zoro leans in a bit, red dusting the tops of his high cheekbones, “I do have to confess, I cannot stop thinking about how gorgeous you are, the way you speak, the way you look and how you present yourself, you are constantly on my mind Sanji.” 

My breath catches in my chest, my eyes widen and my face flushes deeply. 

Zoro stays leaned in, thumb slowly rubbing along the tops of my knuckles, “So, Sanji, will you consider being my boyfriend and going out with me tonight?” 

TBC


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sanji makes his decision and a turning point for their relationship takes place.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please take note that the tags have been updated here. Also please be advised that the Mature rating is going to be validated in this chapter :D. From this chapter on this rating will now be apparent. Its possible that the rating may even get bumped up to Explicit but we will see! Thank you for sticking around!

Le Petit Chateau

Chapter 4

Zoro’s deep baritone gently floats through my empty Café, “So, Sanji, will you consider being my boyfriend and going out with me tonight?” He looks hopeful and eager as he waits patiently for my response.

I never really thought much about dating again, not for real. Sure, I tried to meet a few people but no one really sparked my interest so I never thought too hard about it. But this man, Zoro, he fills my mind and makes me feel things I haven’t felt in years. I should just take this chance, see where this can take us and hope that if it ends it won’t hurt too bad, that if he finds someone younger I’ll have to just take it in stride and let him go.

My heart is tired of being alone, it’s time to let myself fall for someone else. I grasp his hand in mine and take a deep breath, “Alright Zoro, I’ll be your boyfriend.” I feel a slight blush burn my cheeks but my stomach flutters and my heart feels happy.

Zoro instantly looks elated, a large smile breaking out on his handsome face. He brings my hands up to his face and gently kisses the tops of my fingers sweetly. I smirk at him and bring his hands to my face and do the same. He looks embarrassed for a moment but then the large sweet smile is back on his face, lighting up the room.

I place our hands back down, fingers intertwined, “So, what time should I be ready and how are we going to get there?”

Zoro smirks, “Have you ever been on a motorcycle before?”

I’m instantly thrilled, “No I haven’t had the chance, Luffy keeps saying he wants one but he’s not that great at driving. Does that mean you have one?” I eagerly wait for his response as he just smiles at me, scanning over my face.

Zoro reaches with his other hand across the table and brushes back a stray lock of hair that escaped my hair tie. His fingertips gently glide across my temple and behind my ear as he tucks in the lock. My eyes slip closed at the warmth in just his fingers and pleasant feeling at being touched so tenderly.

He moves his fingers slowly down my jaw line and stops with his index finger under my chin and his thumb gently rubbing my jaw, “You really are gorgeous, Sanji.” I slowly open my eyes and can only manage to stare dreamily at him. He chuckles a bit before putting his hand back down, it’s then I can finally regain some clarity and scoff at him. 

I tap his leg with my foot in protest, “Thanks for the compliment Zoro, but I was in the middle of asking a question. There will be plenty of time to ogle me tonight Sir.” I whip my head to the side in mock snootiness.

Zoro lets out a loud belly laugh, wiping the tears away from his eye, “Oh, sorry Sanji, it’s just I’ve been wanting to be close to you for a while now so I got distracted. I promise I’ll try to control myself.” 

He offers me another large smile and snap his hand back up and wait for him to answer my previous question.

Zoro gives my hand a small squeeze, “I do have a motorcycle as well as a spare helmet and driving leathers that should fit you just fine. So, if you're comfortable letting me drive you to the city I’d love to take you on my bike.”

I close my eyes and imagine what it would be like, sitting on the back of a motorcycle, my arms wrapped snugly around Zoro’s muscled torso, my chest and hips plastered up against his wide strong back. Feeling the wind and road pass by us quickly as we drive through the old roads. I definitely want to experience that!

I open my eyes and nod excitedly, “Heck yes I want to! It’s going to be so much fun, I can’t wait now. What time should I be ready do you think?”

Zoro leans back a bit, “Well since we’re going to meet Luffy and some others down there we could just see when they are going and try to meet them around the same time if you want to.”

“Hmmm, that’s a great idea!” Just as I get up to talk to Luffy a group of customers come in, people from the city I assume by the way they gawk at my store and snap pictures of the cafés interior.

Zoro gets up and touches my arm, “Hey, I better let you get back to it. Just text me what you find out and I’ll be here whenever you want me.”

I look up to Zoro’s handsome face, “Alright that sounds good, I’ll text you soon.” Zoro’s gaze gently scans over my hair and face, he gives me a sweet smile and gently rubs my arm before nodding and heading out.

I feel a little dazed as I watch him walk out, greeting the group of ladies as he goes. Most of them giggle and start to whisper to each other as he walks out. I shake myself out of it and get back to work.

The moment the tourists leave I head back in and talk to Luffy about this evening.

“Hey Lu, so I’ve got some news,” I grab Luffy and give him a big bear hug, lifting his slight frame up and spinning him around a couple times, “Zoro and I are dating now!”

Luffy lets out a loud celebratory noise and Usopp congratulates me as well, “Sanji I’m so happy! This is great!”

I put Luffy back down and Usopp heads out to bus the tables. “So, now that means that I can meet you at the club tonight, when were you and the rest going to be there?”

Luffy and I make plans for that evening, the group he was going with were planning on heading there around 8:00pm or 8:30pm, they plan on going to another club beforehand.

I text Zoro the info and he asks if we wanted to go sooner to just hang out first and that way I can have a chance to catch up with Brook. It sounds like a perfect idea so I ask him to come pick me up around 6:30pm. I text him to just come up when he gets here and I can show him around a bit before we head off.

*

It’s 6:15 and my hair's still wet and I’m running through my upstairs apartment like a mad person. The Café closed early today but even so I was late getting ready for tonight. I have a towel wrapped haphazardly around my head and my tight black pants are pulled halfway up my thighs as I stumble back over to my dresser and rip the drawer open. I rifle through my shirts flinging rejects behind me to land on my bed.

I hold up one of my few favorite shirts, a light blue pinstriped button-down shirt, I scan it over and spot a small light stain on the front, “Ah shit…,” Ace had bought me this one.

“Knock, knock?”

I hear Zoro’s deep voice call out from my living room and jump. I stuff the shirt back into my drawer and work on hiking my pants up my quickly. Zoro peeks into my bedroom and sees me struggle with my pants and instantly blushes while laughing at the same time.

I scoff at him, “Oh shut up, you Marimo.” I get them up finally and fasten them closed.

“Sorry, ha, I’ll wait back in there then,” Zoro turns around to head back into my tiny living room, but I call out to him.

“Hey, it's ok you can stay, I’m almost ready. Just got to find a shirt,” I smile at him and take the towel off my hair, placing it on the top of my dresser, then get back to digging through my clothes.

Zoro shuffles in place a bit and then sits in my cozy arm chair in the corner that has my small personal book shelf next to it.

“How did you know that word by the way, Marimo?” Zoro asks as he sits down.

I run my fingers through my long hair to try to untangle it, “Well since you told me you’re from Japan, I was looking into some Japanese things and found out about marimos. They are so cute, little green moss balls, they remind me of your hair!” I stick my tongue out at him and give him a wink. He laughs out loud and shakes his head at me.

I turn my attention back to my dresser and pull out a couple more shirts and inspect them a little closer, “Sorry I’m running so late by the way Zoro, I’m normally not late like this.” I turn towards him to give him a smile but as soon as I do I freeze as I look at him. Zoro has picked up the picture frame that was sitting on top of the tiny book shelf, Zoro has a small sad smile on his face that pulls at something in my heart.

I slip the long-sleeved grey and black striped shirt over my head that I finally decided on and walk over to him. I stand in front of him and he looks up at me, “Sorry, I just saw it and wanted to take a look at it,” He holds out the silver frame to me and I gently take it from him.

I look at it like I have so many times, the picture is of Ace and I, the both of us are smiling happily, faces squished together as we celebrate our first night as new Café owners. So many years have passed since that day, but sometimes, it feels like it was just yesterday.

I find myself suddenly sitting in Zoro’s lap, one strong arm wrapped around my back, his other hand firmly cradling the back of my head, “I’m so sorry Sanji, I didn’t mean to make you upset.”

It’s then I finally realize that I was crying, my face is wet and making his nice black shirt tear stained. I lean back a bit and set the picture back in its place then nuzzle back into the crook of Zoro’s neck and wrap my arms around his shoulders, relaxing and getting myself to calm down.

I speak again after a few moments, “It’s not your fault Zoro, I don’t know what came over me. Sorry you had to see that.”

I wipe my eyes off on my sleeve and make to get up but Zoro tightens his grip on me, stopping me, “You have nothing to be sorry for Sanji, I’ve lost people I love too, I understand. Sometimes you will just be having a normal day and then a passing thought or certain smell can just trigger memories. It’s good to let it out Sanji. So please, don’t be embarrassed or anything.” Zoro brings his palm up to my face and lays it against my cheek, I close my eyes and snuggle into his palm, “Honestly, it happened to me just the other day too.”

I feel much more reassured and less embarrassed with Zoro’s encouragement. I open my eyes and look at his sweet, gentle face. I look into his eye and see nothing but kindness and care in it, I place my hands on either side of his face, running my thumbs along the tops of his high cheekbones.

The air changes, feels thicker and charged, my heart beats loudly in my ears and my breath comes a little quicker. Zoro looks like he’s feeling the same.

The moment is slightly lightened when he speaks, “May I kiss you Sanji, please tell me no if it’s too fast, I’ll understand.” He sounds breathless when he asks, his voice coming out as a whisper, made loud by the silence in the room.

I want to kiss him, bad. All I can think about is the lonely nights, cold in my bed. Afraid to fall asleep sometimes because of how silent it is in here. No one else breathing, no one else laughing or talking. Just me, alone, up here.

I want to kiss him, so I do.

I lean in first and he meets me half way, his lips are soft and warm, they light a fire in me that went out the day I lost Ace. The kiss starts off sweet, tender and pure. The meeting and parting of lips, a gentle pressure that soon changes to longer lingering kisses.

Kissing Zoro proves to be exhilarating, even, intoxicating. My mind is clear of all the loneliness that’s settled in my heart, the sadness that I’ve grown so used to that I stopped realizing it was even there, weighing me down for years.

My fingers weave into his soft hair and I gently grip onto the locks of green, I move my legs to straddle his, settling on his lap more comfortably. He moves with me, one hand moving to my hip and the other tenderly grasping the back of my neck, his fingers threading through my drying, golden hair.

Our kisses turn further and further away from pure and innocent, I’m not sure who started it but suddenly my tongue is brushing against his and I whimper at the feeling. I grow hungrier for more, it’s been so long since I’ve kissed someone or even gotten this close to another person like this.

My body moves on its own and I feel myself grind down gently on his lap feeling his hardness press against my inner thigh, he gasps, suddenly grips my hip tightly stopping my movements and pulling away from my lips, “Whoa hey, hey, Sanji.”

I snap out of the haze when he says my name, I look down and both of us are breathing heavy, his face is flushed. I instantly feel embarrassed with myself, we literally just started dating today and here we are making out in my bedroom like teenagers while I grind on his lap like a hormonal beast.

I cover my face with my hands, “Oh my god, Zoro, I’m so sorry.”

He quickly and gently tugs my hands away and holds them, “Hey don’t be sorry Sanji, it’s ok, really. I just think we ought to slow back down here, take it a little bit at a time.” He makes me look him in the eye and he smiles at me, “I don’t regret kissing you like this, at all, I just want to take it slow and honestly, I think you need us to take it slow, hmmm?”

He’s right, so very right. It’s been so long since I’ve had contact with another person sexually that I really need to take it easy. I really like Zoro and clearly, we have very good chemistry. So, I want to take this at a good pace, give this relationship a good fighting chance.

I take a deep breath, “Ya your right, I didn’t mean for it to get that heated.” I smile down at him, “You are a very, very good kisser Zoro, but ya let’s take a step back and try to take it slow.”

I lean down and give him one more peck on the lips, I glance at the small clock on my wall and see it’s already 6:45pm, “Oh snap, we are running way late now, let me finish my hair and then I’ll be ready to go!” I slip off his lap, trying to discreetly cover the effect our make out session had on me and sprint to the bathroom.

We hurry downstairs once I’m finally ready, “Hey, is ok if I give you a tour once you drop me off back home later?”

Zoro glances down at me as we walk through the Café dining area, “Ya, of course, that’s no problem at all, I am excited to see later though. I’ve never been in a Café or restaurant kitchen before. Just seen them on TV of course.”

He smiles down at me and I bump his shoulder, “Well don’t get your hopes up too much, it’s pretty small compared to a real restaurant, ha!”

We get outside and I lock the doors behind me, once I turn around I see a beautiful black motorcycle with green detailing sitting along the curb with two helmets and jackets sitting on the seat. It looks like an obvious sport type, fast and wicked cool. I go over to it and run my hand along the shiny clean paint, “What kind is this? It looks awesome!”

Zoro’s face breaks out in a grin, “This is a Kawasaki Ninja H2, it’s a sports style so it can go pretty fast. I actually used to race but it’s been years since I’ve done it.” Zoro picks up a helmet that matches the bike, “I had to stop racing when I had my accident.”

I watch as he reaches up and runs his fingers over his closed and scarred left eye, “I almost died that night, it was really touch and go. When I crashed, my bike broke up into bits and I landed on a few, I got impaled on one large piece, got quite the scar on my chest to show for it.”

To think, Zoro could have died and we would never have had the chance to meet. Thinking about that makes me even happier that we did meet, that I took this chance to be with him. I grasp his hand and nuzzle on to his shoulder, “Well I’ll have to see that scar later, but for now, I’m so happy you're here and alive.”

Zoro nuzzles the top of my head with his face, “I’m very glad to be alive right now too Sanji, but I thought we were taking it slow, you already trying to my clothes off huh?”

I gasp and kick him in the shin, he roars out laughter and holds his shin in mock pain.

I strut over to the spare helmet and jacket, they are both a pure black. I slip the jacket on and fasten it, inside the helmet I find gloves stuffed inside and slip those on as well. Zoro follows suit a moment or so later.

He helps me put my helmet on and fasten it, then puts his on as well, “Make sure your phone, wallet and whatever else you have is secured so it won’t fall out. If you need to, go ahead and put them in your jacket pockets, they zip closed.” I pull my keys, phone and wallet out and stuff them in the jacket pockets and zip them closed.

Zoro gets on the bike and tells me to hop on, “Now, before we go, I’m going to give you some pointers on how to ride along with me. You need to keep your arms wrapped around me at all times, don’t let go, but don’t squeeze me to death either! When we go on turns I need you to move with me, lean into it like I do as we go, just don’t lean too much, be sure to follow what I do. Other than that, it should be a leisurely ride, I’m a very safe driver.”

I squeeze Zoro, “I trust you Zoro, I can’t wait to see what this is like!”

The drive to the city is beautiful, the country pastures and fields barren and waiting to be sown whiz past us, the night sky growing dark and the large moon shining brightly over us make for a relaxing drive.

Being able to hold Zoro this closely and feel his warmth makes me very happy, and reminds me of earlier in the evening. My face flushes at the memory and I squirm, feeling heat start to pool in my gut. I take a deep breath and try to control myself. This isn’t like me, I normally only feel these kind of urges a couple times a week tops, but this is insane. I want to take it slow so I really need to get a grip on myself!

It seems to take longer than I recall, but we eventually get there, we drive through the city streets, weaving our way through until we get to the small building in the downtown area where Le Violoncelle des os is. Zoro parks his motorcycle a ways up the road in a mostly full parking lot and we take off our gear, instead of leaving it on the bike like he did before he takes both helmets and jackets with us and we make our way down the road to the club hand in hand.

TBC

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks again for sticking around through my slow updates! I'll see you guys in the next update, they will finally see the club and Brook!

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! I hope you enjoyed this chapter. This is my first attempt at a modern AU. The characters will be OC to a point because this is not the normal universe you would find them in. If you see any errors please tell me as I do not have a beta or what have you (Side note, I'm not French in any way so if there's cultural things I've gotten wrong please do forgive me.) It may be slow to update but we will see. This is very much slice of life, cute chapters with all the fluff. I have rated this M because I always do just in case. There will be steamy stuff in later chapters but we need to build up to that first! I’d love to read any reviews or comments and thanks again for reading!


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